Ron Paul Won (Great Read) - Huffington Post

In a competition, when someone cheats, he gets disqualified. The disqualification does not make the runner-up the winner. Rather, it reveals that the
man who appeared to be the runner-up had in fact been the winner all along.

In the race for the GOP nomination for president, therefore, Ron Paul won.

As the New York Times wrote yesterday,

Delegates from Nevada tried to nominate Mr. Paul from the floor, submitting petitions from their own state as well as Minnesota, Maine, Iowa,
Oregon, Alaska and the Virgin Islands. That should have done the trick: Rules require signatures from just five states. But the party changed the
rules on the spot. Henceforth, delegates must gather petitions from eight states.

If you watched the RNC live feeds, you know very well that all of the above is true. It was a disgusting few hours and it made me sick to no end.
After some time to reflect, I have to say that I agree with this author completely.

When Mr. Romney and the RNC cheat so blatantly, they make the game no longer about politics: they make themselves ineligible for the vote of
anyone who cares about his own morality, his own honesty or his own integrity -- regardless of his politics. And from a purely practical standpoint,
they invite Americans to ask if they want to live in a nation governed with the same contempt for those who don't toe the party line as has been
displayed both in Tampa and throughout the primary process.

But as a Ron Paul supporter, I can't remember feeling so invigorated and empowered in my cause.

Not only did my candidate win: the GOP has given the Liberty movement the greatest gift it could have given us. It has induced a righteous indignation
will ensure that there will be no lull in the Liberty movement post-convention or post-election. It has educated us; it has brought us together like
only a common hurt can, and it has freed us to do whatever needs to be done for the cause we love, wherever we need to do it.

I won't bring over much more of the article...those that are interested, please read it. He lays everything out in a clear concise manner. I do
want to leave you with this in the event you do not check out the source...

To that end, write in Ron Paul if a write-in vote will be counted in your state. If Ron Paul endorses someone, vote for him. Otherwise, vote Gary
Johnson (or your favored third party candidate). Just remember that we wield influence by demonstrating to the GOP and DNC that we are the group that
swings elections from now on. Therefore, a vote against Obamney is not enough. Even a vote via write-in for Paul is not enough if no one will ever see
it. Constitutionalists, libertarians, Blue Republicans, down-the-line pro-peace progressives, protest voters, etc. must vote for Paul's principles
and get that vote counted.

I remain a Ron Paul loyalist. I suspect that the most principled politician of our time would consider a vote cast in good conscience for his values
to be a vote for him. In fact, if you've come this far as a supporter of Dr. Paul, however you decide to vote in the November in support of his
values, you can probably say without too much of a stretch, "I voted for Ron Paul in 2012."

But for sure, you can already say that you supported him when he won the GOP nomination, because that, by any honest measure, is just what he did.

The Republicrats only have their duopoly if we give it to them. And you know what you get if you vote for the lesser of two evils, don't you? Hint:
the answer is in the question.

Sorry I'm an outsider, so forgive my ignorance, but why didn't Ron Paul run as an Independent. There is clearly a demand in America for a 3rd party,
but RP ran under the Republican banner. Surely he must of known he could never take on the GOP establishment and gain the nomination. He did however,
manage to get a lot of independents who would not normally join the Republicans to join up just to back his cause. So I wonder who really won here.

I watched the State roll-call, as much as I could stomach anyway. The level of corruption and censorship/bias was so obvious it made me sick to my
stomach, very literally speaking. I could feel my blood boiling, especially with the front GOP lady (don't know her name, don't care) who read the
votes back, only speaking Romney's name.

Anybody without a sheep-brain could see that the whole dog-and-pony show that was the RNC convention was more fake than "reality" TV. A few slips
like the microphone incident, and the blatant words of some of the speakers there made it completely obvious. If you didn't see it, you are GONE.
Seek help, preferably ASAP.

Really makes you wonder, if the delegates were all allowed to vote their conscience, if the rules weren't changed on the fly, if the gameplan of
Paul's delegates were allowed to run its course, really how close it would have been. As it stands, this is our catalyst. We either get put out, or
we metamorphose our cause into something that stands on its own, free and clear of the 2 party system, and we overcome. The GOP has nothing for us,
really never did, and they don't have the moral backbone to fight fair.

I can't tell you how touched I've been by my supporters' generosity from day one of my Presidential campaign.

Your support has made an incredible impact that will continue on well into the future. In fact, as I look back at the past year, I'm literally amazed
at how far we've come.

Today, we can catch a glimpse of our future - and it's a bright one.

Due to our Liberty Movement's youth, energy, and growing numbers, establishment Republicans are recognizing their days of controlling the national
GOP are coming to an end. Even now, they are being forced to recognize that our issues - like finally auditing the Federal Reserve - are not going
away.

My hope is, with your continued support, it will not end until free markets, sound money, constitutional principles, respect for individual liberty,
and a common-sense foreign policy are all restored in America.

For your generosity and all that you'll continue to do in the name of liberty, thank you.

Because 3rd parties are ignored completely by media, and thus trivialized to the point of a total waste of time.

This is a 2 party system, and until radical changes in the society come about (the realization that there are more than 2 choices would be a start),
then we are stuck. But I think things are changing, at least in about 10% of us.

Whichever way it goes, the GOP's failure to integrate its liberty wing will seriously endanger the duopolistic political system on which they
have depended for so long because the liberty movement is now simply too large to disappear.

Because 3rd parties are ignored completely by media, and thus trivialized to the point of a total waste of time.

A bit like Ron Paul in this election campaign. At least going Independent would have meant making a clear distinction from the outdated GOP. Providing
a real alternative for the voters. Why is there not enough people in America to form a respectable 3rd party that can challenge the duopoly. It takes
people to start these things, they are not going to come around by magic.

I'd like to see talk radio address this. Come on Hannity, Rush and Beck, let's see what you are really made of. All of the conservatives need to
hear this in an unbiased manner, let them know the Republicans need to be held accountable.

This is the first year I have ever really decided my vote does not count, probably never has, but I don't even want to touch a ballot considering
what we have to choose from. Ugh.

Sadly I don't think Ron Paul won. The few bankers\investors that own the corporate lobbyist and special interest groups won and the individual
Americans lost. Regardless if they used dirty tactics or regardless if the individual Americans are not aware that they are being played, they won
regardless this battle.

Now they will concentrate on winning the WAR. Part of winning the war is going to be to shutdown the Ron Paul ideals and the believe in individual
freedoms. In addition they will shut down any media that allows for anonymous bi-directional communications such as the internet. They don't want to
hear your opinions nor allow you to expose their B$.

The reality is that most people believe that if you aren't voting republican or democrat then your wasting you vote because no other party, or
nominee will get enough votes to win. Even if you don't want to vote between a douche and a turd-sandwich you might still vote for one or the other
simply because you may feel like you don't have a choice. I personally feel like if people voted with their heart and their head instead of just
their head then we might actually be able to change something. Some people would disagree with me and say it's unrealistic...it's an ideal that can
not be accomplished. I would argue that the only way to make changes toward an ideal society is to actually try and do something about it. Otherwise
your just following the other sheep toward your own destruction. SO what if you happen to waste your vote, if SHTF at least you can say you did your
best to prevent it.

Because 3rd parties are ignored completely by media, and thus trivialized to the point of a total waste of time.

A bit like Ron Paul in this election campaign. At least going Independent would have meant making a clear distinction from the outdated GOP. Providing
a real alternative for the voters. Why is there not enough people in America to form a respectable 3rd party that can challenge the duopoly. It takes
people to start these things, they are not going to come around by magic.

edit on 29-8-2012 by woodwardjnr because: (no reason given)

it's called the media my friend. i don't know where you are from but whatever you are watching in your country on the news is what they want
you to know, not necessarily the truth.

if you can control what goes in people's ears you've got a serious advantage. the two parties are backed by people with some serious money to
control that.

"I wish I could tell you we were doing well right now — we're not. Ron Paul has totally taken our [state] party over," Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.)
told an activist from his state. "His folks have taken over half of our party, as a result of which we are split down the middle, totally ineffective,
screwed up," chimed in former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.), a foreign-policy adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign who remains active in
Minnesota state politics. "We are almost better off that they totally took over our party because most of us now are not worried about the party,
we've got two or three independent expenditure efforts going by business leaders. We were split down the middle and had constant civil war within the
party — nobody would be doing the basic get-out-the-vote."

See, this is what a lot of people just don't understand. This is the way we will win. You can't win running 3rd party but you can take over the
party.

We control Iowa and Nevada and are well on our way to take over more states as we speak. This is how you beat their system!

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
Sorry I'm an outsider, so forgive my ignorance, but why didn't Ron Paul run as an Independent. There is clearly a demand in America for a 3rd party,
but RP ran under the Republican banner. Surely he must of known he could never take on the GOP establishment and gain the nomination. He did however,
manage to get a lot of independents who would not normally join the Republicans to join up just to back his cause. So I wonder who really won here.

Ron's son is still in the GOP. I do not think he was willing to create a vote splitting situation due to this.

As to the meat of the topic, Libertarians need to drop their illusions about the GOP. You are not going to take over. I remember when this all started
I stated this is exactly what would happen. I got flamed again and again, but who was right? You need to split the vote, only then will they pay
attention to you.

You are welcome, I got up off my butt and did all I could. The pain of knowledge while discouraging is still the right path towards freedom from
tyranny. Now we work on the local level to seek out and vote in candidates who will fight for liberty and the Constitution as it was written.

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